Chelsea are launching a £70 million bid to sign Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, according to reports.

The Sunday Mirror claims that Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich has approved the offer in an attempt to snatch one of Manchester United’s priority transfer targets.

Chelsea have made a late attempt to sign Alvaro Morata.

Morata has already agreed to join Jose Mourinho’s side this summer but United are yet to settle on a fee with Madrid, despite talks this week.

United have had a £52.4m offer rejected by Madrid and the Spanish champions have warned that they are in no hurry to sell and are holding out for €90 million (£79m) transfer fee.

Morata has agreed to join Manchester United.

Chelsea also remain in negotiations over a deal for Romelu Lukaku but Everton are similarly dragging their heels over the fee for the Belgian striker.

Lukaku has already admitted he has agreed a deal with his new club but Everton are refusing to budge from their £100m valuation.

Chelsea have also faced a new threat from Antonio Conte, according to reports in Italy earlier this week.

It’s been claimed that the Italian is unhappy with the Premier League champions’ lack of progress in the transfer market with deals for Lukaku and Monaco midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko yet to be concluded.